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in Blog on October 9, 2018 by Katie Addiss

Books Talk: Our Favorite Halloween Picture Books

Festive reads are some of my favorite reads, and Halloween books are no exception! Sarah and I rounded up our some of our favorites in Episode 177 of the podcast. You can listen here, and check out our book picks below (including a few that didn’t make it into the audio segment!).

Enjoy browsing the list, and let us know if we have any favorites in common!

Amazon links are affiliates. That means if you click through and make a purchase, you’ll be supporting The Mom Hour at no additional cost to you. We also encourage you to check books out at your local library and support local bookstores!

Katie’s Picks:

There’s a Monster In Your Book (Tom Fletcher)

Great for babies and preschoolers, this book reminds me of the popular children’s book, Press Here by Herve Tullet (also a great pick!). Follow simple directions on each page like tickle the monster’s feet, and see how it responds. Fun to read for children and parents!


The Cheerios Halloween Pay Book (Lee Wade)

A great pick for young toddlers to preschoolers, this book introduces colorful Halloween scenes and works on fine motor development with holes inset for children to place cheerios (or raisins, m&m’s, etc.) to complete the scene!


Vamperina Ballerina (Ann Marie Pace)

A story about a little vampire trying to fit in as a ballerina. Her nocturnal tendencies and monster and bat posse make it hard to do that, but she tries anyway and ends up as a happy little dancer. The beautiful whimsy in the pictures along with the cute plotline make this such a fun read! Great for preschoolers!


The Widow’s Broom (Chris Van Allsburg)

After a witch’s broom loses its ability to fly, it takes on a life of its own in an old woman’s farmhouse. This book introduces the magical side of Halloween with a tiny bit of spook and a fair amount of text on each page. Great for older preschooler – elementary school-aged.


Popcorn (Frank Asch)

This was a childhood favorite of mine about a bear who has to eat a house full of popcorn to cover up the Halloween party he throws while his parents attend a costume party. Lots of fun onomatopoeia and cute pictures. Serve with a side of popcorn, and this will for sure be a hit!


Other books Katie loves that we didn’t have time to mention:

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween, by Alice Schertle – If you’re a fan of the Little Blue Truck series, this pick will not disappoint. A bonus of durable lift-the-flap adds to the familiar features of rhyme, repetition, and a sing-songy rhythm that make this series so popular! Great for babies – preschool age.

B is for Boo: A Halloween Alphabet, by Greg Paprocki – From one of my all-time favorite baby board book lines: BabyLit, this alphabet primer is a Halloween-themed edition within an entire collection of other alphabet primers! Halloween-themed objects fill the alphabet in this vibrant and educational board book. Great for babies and preschoolers.

Sarah’s Picks:

Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Night (Anne Rockwell)

This sweet picture book is about the Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins–a fun way to get kids excited to go to the pumpkin patch, pick out their pumpkin, and do the carving at home.


Little Boo (Stephen Wunderli)

Little Boo is a pumpkin seed who wants to be scary but isn’t quite big enough. The story follows the changing seasons and the growth of a seed into a plant and, eventually, Little Boo gets to be a scary jack-o-lantern.


Littlebat’s Halloween Story (Diane Mayr)

If you have kids who can’t WAIT for Halloween, read them this book. Littlebat has to wait for the seasons to change in order to explore his favorite place–the library!


Pumpkin Soup (Helen Cooper)

This books stays out year round at Sarah’s house–it tells the story of three friends who squabble a LOT…until one runs away and the others realize how much they miss their buddy! So good.

Want more ideas?

Katie mentioned that she got some of her ideas from this list from Everyday Reading, a listener in our Patreon Facebook group suggested this blog post from The Larson House, and we also love the digital options on Epic! (don’t forget to use code MOMHOUR for two months free).

What are you and your little ones reading this Halloween? Add your favorite picks in the comments below. We always love expanding our home library or our library hold list!

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: books, books talk, Halloween

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« Halloween Costumes & Halloween Picture Books: Episode 177
More Than Mom: Musical Theater »

Comments

  1. Leanne says

    October 9, 2018 at 5:41 pm

    We LOVE Big Pumpkin, The Candy Witch, Boo to You Too (all classics that I’ve had since I was a kid) and the Peek-a-flap Boo book is a great board book with interesting facts!

    Reply
    • Katie Addiss says

      October 21, 2018 at 11:46 pm

      Leanne, thanks for the book recommendations! I will add these to our library hold list to check them out! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Amanda Krieger says

    October 10, 2018 at 12:59 pm

    I also grew up reading popcorn and completely forgot about it! Thanks for the reminder, can’t wait to read this with my kiddos!

    Reply
    • Katie Addiss says

      October 21, 2018 at 11:45 pm

      Amanda, Thanks for reading the post, and happy to meet another Popcorn fan! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Rachel Schaad says

    October 26, 2018 at 12:47 am

    So excited to have some new suggestions from your podcast! My old favorites: The Witch Next Door (an old one from my childhood by Norman Bridwell), Clifford’s Halloween (also Norman Bridwell), Room on the Broom (Julia Donaldson of Gruffalo fame), and as mentioned above, Big Pumpkin (Erica Silverman)!

    Reply

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Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

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#mommath #drowningindishes #summerbreakisnotreallyabreak
Happy weekend - and a big thanks to our June spons Happy weekend - and a big thanks to our June sponsors! Every month, we like to take a little time to shoutout our partners who help support the show + remind our listeners of some of the great deals our sponsors are offering. For more info, specific promo codes, and links, just search the brand name on our website, and they'll pop up in our episode show notes. We also collect ALL our active promo codes (even the old ones that are still working!) in our email newsletter - which is full of other great things we want to share with you, too. Tap on this image at the link in our bio to subscribe today. 

Meet our NEW partners this month . . .
🗣️ @connectspeech (early language support!)
💙 @appahealth (1st month of mentorship free!)
💄 @thrivecausemetics (15% off your 1st order)

And welcome back to . . .
⭐️ @paireyewear (15% off your 1st purchase!)
⭐️ @autoapprove ($100 when you refinance!)
⭐️ @outschool ($15 off your child's 1st class!)
⭐️ @mindandchild ($20 off Parenting 101 course!)
⭐️ @flowkey_com (20% off subscription piano app!)
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⭐️ @hiyahealth (50% off 1st order!)
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Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts #travelingwoes #travelingwithkids #familytravelmishaps
New on the blog this week from @kiamhammond: Learn New on the blog this week from @kiamhammond: Learning About Juneteenth, As A Family.

"Like many families, mine is still figuring out how to teach our children about Juneteenth, as learning the history wasn't part of my education or my husband's when we were kids. The good news is, books written for children and families are a great way for the whole family to learn (and there are a lot of them!)."

Click this image at the link in our bio to read Kia’s book recommendations and more ways to start the conversation at home with your family.

#juneteenth #history #blackhistory #parenting #juneteenthbooksforkids #summerreading
New episode! As moms, we can be hard on ourselves New episode!

As moms, we can be hard on ourselves…and sometimes we just need to hear the simplest, oft-repeated pieces of advice and encouragement to remind us that it is all going to be OK. Join Meagan and Sarah for a reflection on eight pieces of wisdom that have carried us through motherhood struggles at every age and stage. We are offering them to you, to ourselves, and to all of our future selves in Episode 369.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts #momtruisms #momtruths #parentingadvice #motherhoodstruggles
Just a “hello” from last-week-me, who spent 30 Just a “hello” from last-week-me, who spent 30 minutes moving 25 chickens by hand from their home to the new chicken yard, because they refused to go on their own. And then an hour moving them back, because same.

It reminded me a lot of mothering a toddler, and got me wondering: what’s the most ridiculous thing mom life has brought you in the past week? -M
New episode! Have you ever fantasized about atten New episode!

Have you ever fantasized about attending a camp-like environment for grown-ups? Much about the classic summer camp experience is appealing to us (though not EVERYTHING--we could certainly do without the bugs), and the idea of simply showing up for a perfectly curated experience without any responsibility, or planning, sounds AMAZING. Listen to this fun More Than Mom to hear all of our must-have activities (like food and wine tastings, yoga, personal style consults and more!), things that would be a hard no (like swimming in the gross, murky lake or participating in corny, guided crafts) and our daydreams about creating a Mom Hour Retreat (maybe someday?)!

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts #summercamps #womenretreats #momretreat
New on the blog this week from @jaymesherrod: LGBT New on the blog this week from @jaymesherrod: LGBTQ+ Resources For Parents (And Anyone Who Wants To Learn!). 

"The fact is, none of us will get it right every time. Not with each other, and certainly not with our kids. But it’s important that we keep showing up and having the conversations anyway."

Click this image at the link in our bio to access Jayme's roundup of resources.

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